Steph Cooke MP and Mayor of Narrandera Neville Kschenka by the Sturt Highway.

Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke has announced that the Sturt and Olympic Highways will benefit from the Saving Lives on Country Roads Program with upgrades at Narrandera and Young kicking off this financial year.

“Country people make up a third of the NSW population, but last year fatalities on country roads made up nearly 70 per cent of the road toll,” Ms Cooke said.

“The shocking truth is that you are four times more likely to be killed on roads in the country compared to people who live in the city. In this electorate alone, there have been five fatalities in the first six months of 2018. The Saving Lives on Country Roads Program aims to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads by addressing high risk curves and installing safety features to prevent driver fatigue and lane departure crashes,” she added.

The Sturt Highway at Narrandera has been allocated $400,000 and the Olympic Highway in Young $500,000 for development works. This funding will assist RMS with the development of safety improvements to reduce the likelihood and severity of crashes in the Cootamundra electorate.

Canowindra Road and the Lachlan Valley Way in the north-eastern part of the electorate will also benefit from upgrades with the total improvements worth over $2 million for the Cootamundra electorate as a whole.